From Darkness to Light: A Journey Through Psalm 8
Finding Hope and Purpose in the Vastness of God’s Care
Every day seemed to begin with darkness—a suffocating, oppressive presence like a wetted blanket pinning me to my small twin bed, resting on the floor of my tiny room. Even though it could have been the middle of the day, depression seemed to demand I pull the blinds tighter, as if it could only exist comfortably in darkness. It was stifling and inescapable. The words from Psalm 88:18, “darkness is my closest friend,” became more than scripture; they were the truth of my existence. Darkness was all I could see.
Even though depression demanded that I keep the blinds drawn, a light announced itself in front of my eyes, urging me to look up from the cavern that was enveloping me. This figurative flickering was just enough to draw my attention away from my own suffering, my indominable isolation. It wasn’t an audible command but a celestial covenant that I am known! That I am seen! and suddenly the tiny light sparked into an actual blaze of a thought! Psalm 139:1 “You have searched me, LORD and you know me”. God’s gaze wasn’t distant; it was focused, attentive. In that moment, I grasped that being known was more than being observed—it meant being significant, cared for, even in the silence.
Convinced of this “new” truth, I had to escape this prison that depression had bound me too for so many hours . I rose slowly, splashed cold water on my face, and stepped outside. The walk was laborious, each step a reminder of my struggle, but as I looked up, the sky unfolded before me and despite the darkness of the night sky there was an illumination, a vast expanse of stars and a bright, unobscured moon. This was no accident. This grandeur had purpose, intention.
I stood beneath the stars, the cool breeze brushing my skin—a rare gift in the thick Southern air—and I knew that if the God who made this sky cared enough to craft every detail, then His care extended to me. Psalm 8:4 came to life, “What is man that You are mindful of him?” I was no longer a speck lost in darkness; I was seen and known by the Creator Himself.
The aperture of light opened wider, illuminating more than just my own small existence. In Psalm 8:2, even infants and nursing babes declare His strength. Their vulnerable, imperfect words echo the love spoken over them. I, too, in my weakness, began to whisper the words God had spoken of me, like a child attempting to mimic the loving words of their parents. Each utterance drew me closer to the truth of His majesty and care.
Slowly, as the weight of darkness lifted, the awe I felt gave way to something deeper—a recognition that I was not merely seen; I was made to reflect God’s image, to bear His light. He did not create me to remain pinned down in isolation, but to rise and be known as His own.
The refrain of Psalm 8, “O Lord, our Lord, how majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth,” became my lullaby. It framed my journey from darkness to light, from being consumed by my own struggles to being captivated by His greatness. Speaking His name lifted my eyes above my pain, reminding me that the One who made the stars knows my name.
Eventually, I found myself standing on a small hill near my neighborhood, arms outstretched, tears streaming down my face. But this time, they were not tears of despair. They were tears of hope, of knowing that while my circumstances were not perfect, the promise of morning held joy. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). And with that realization, I knew the darkness was not my end—it was simply a passage toward light.
Psalm 8 (AMP)
O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!
You have displayed Your splendor above the heavens.Out of the mouths of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
Because of Your adversaries,
That You might silence the enemy and make the revengeful cease.When I see and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have established;
4. What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?
Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,All sheep and oxen,
And also the beasts of the field,The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic and glorious and excellent is Your name in all the earth!